George Washington University Athletics
Men's Basketball Hosts Morgan State on Wednesday
11/28/2017 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
The Bears are 4-2 and coming off back-to-back wins over Goldey-Beacom and Mount St. Mary's. They were picked to win the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference in a preseason poll, as they return all five starters from a season ago, along with 81 percent of their scoring. Despite the returning talent, it is freshman guard LaPri McCray-Pace who leads the team in scoring with 13.2 ppg.
vs. TempleSun., Dec. 3 | 2:30 p.m.
The Colonials head across town to Capital One Arena to face former A-10 foe Temple in the BB&T Classic. There will be a Raise High Alumni Tailgate at Capital One Arena starting at 12:30 in The Brewhouse Club. BUY TICKETS | REGISTER FOR TAILGATE
TIPPING OFF: After spending the Thanksgiving holiday in Las Vegas playing a pair of power conference teams, the GW men's basketball team returns home to Smith Center where it will host Morgan State Wednesday at 7 p.m.
LAST TIME OUT: In its second game in two days, and fourth in a week, GW pushed Kansas State to the wire before succumbing at the end in a 67-59 defeat to close the Las Vegas Invitational last Friday. Sophomore big man Arnaldo Toro was a bright spot, tallying a career-high 21 points on 8-of-15 shooting, while narrowly missing out on a double-double with nine rebounds. Toro earned a spot on the All-Tournament team after also going for seven points and seven rebounds vs. 15th-ranked Xavier.
CLOSING IN ON 1,000: Senior guard Yuta Watanabe is set to become the 49th member of GW's 1,000 point club with his first point on Wednesday, as he comes into the game with 999. This will mark the fourth straight season a Colonial has joined the club. Tyler Cavanaugh reached it last year and was preceded by Joe McDonald (2015-16), Kevin Larsen and Patricio Garino (2014-15).
This season, Watanabe leads GW blocks (2.5 bpg) and free throw percentage (.895, 17-19) and ranks second in scoring (12.8 ppg) and rebounding (7.3 rpg). The native of Kagawa, Japan, has been a workhorse, recording double-doubles vs. Howard (19p, 11r) and Rider (16 p, 13r). He is playing 38.5 minutes per game, including all 40 in both of the aforementioned games plus vs. Xavier.
INTERNATIONAL NIGHT: Wednesday will be International Night, celebrating GW's international community with t-shirts, prizes and international food. The men's basketball team has four players from outside the continental United States: Watanabe (Japan), Toro (Puerto Rico), Patrick Steeves (Canada) and Javier Langarica (Spain).
STRONG SCHEDULE: GW is playing one of the most difficult non-conference schedules in the nation which includes six of 13 games against teams in Ken Pomeroy's top 50, and seven vs. the top 120. After facing FSU (42nd), Xavier (21st) and K-State (38th), the Colonials still have dates with Temple (49th), Princeton (119th) Penn State (36th), and Miami (20th).
NOLAN NOT SHY: Terry Nolan Jr. has played his best under the bright lights against top competition. In his first game playing in a hostile road environment, against Florida State Nov. 14, the Baltimore native went for 18 points on 8-of-12 shooting, including two highlight-reel dunks; one in traffic over 6-foot-9 Mfiondu Kabengele; the other a high-flying putback slam off a teammate's miss. Against Xavier, he again went for 18 points, this time on 7-for-9 shooting. Nolan Jr. has started all six games and has a team-high 11 steals while ranking second in assists (17) and fourth in scoring (10.0 ppg).
SOPHOMORE STARTERS: GW's two sophomore starters have had strong starts to the season. Jair Bolden is averaging a team-best 13.0 ppg and leading the team with 3.8 apg. Toro, meanwhile, leads the squad with 7.5 rpg and is first in the A-10 in offensive boards (4.2 pg). He is also chipping in 9.7 ppg.
SERIES HISTORY: GW has won all three meetings, the most recent a 102-75 victory on Dec. 10, 2005 in Baltimore.
LOOK AHEAD: The Colonials head across town to Capital One Arena on Sunday for their last scheduled appearance in the BB&T Classic. The opponent is the Temple Owls, who GW defeated in a classic last year in Philadelphia, 66-63.
